No need for memorial panel: Bansi
LalRohtak, April 20The former Chief Minister and HVP Chief, Mr Bansi Lal, has dissociated himself from the Devi Lal Memorial Committee and said there was no need for such a committee.

Haryana to get aid for industrial growthNew Delhi, April 20The Union Urban Development Ministry would provide adequate financial assistance to the Haryana government for the speedy development of infrastructure required for industrial development in the state falling under the National Capital Region (NCR).

Haryana small savings’ target Rs 1222
croreChandigarh, April 20The Haryana Small Savings Department would mobilise Rs 1222 crore by way of small savings in 2001-2002, 10 per cent more than the target of the previous year.

MDU English paper not
from syllabusRohtak, April 20Examinees of Shastri (part-I) examination being conducted by Maharshi Dayanand University were shocked yesterday when they found that the questions in the fifth paper of English were not as specified in the syllabus.

HUDA action illegal, allege
shopkeepersFaridabad, April 20The demolition drive here has come under attack. A controversy has arisen in some cases over the ownership of land and the authority to demolish the structures in view of “lack of coordination” between HUDA and the municipal corporation (MC).

6 Improvement Trusts revivedChandigarh, April 20The Haryana Government has revived the Improvement Trusts of Bhiwani, Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Hansi and Dabwali. Stating this, an official spokesman said the Chairman of the Improvement Trust, Bhiwani, would be Mr Varinder Bharuka and the members would include Mr Ramesh Narula, Mr Ved Parkash Balmiki and Mr Bharpur Singh. Ms Manju Rani and Mr Gobind Ram would be the municipality members of the trust.

Varsity plan on Ambedkar
centreKurukshetra, April 20Kurukshetra University will convert Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar Studies Centre into a nodal agency for coordinating research on Dr Ambedkar’s philosophy. This was stated by the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Mr
R. S. Chaudhry, here on Wednesday.

Residential institute for
Mewat girls on cardsNuh (Gurgaon), April 20The decision of the Mewat Development Agency (MDA) to set up a residential institute for girls here has enthused the people residing in Gurgaon and Faridabad districts.

Agriculture students go on
strikeHisar, April 20Students of all constituent colleges of Haryana Agricultural University today went on strike in protest against the eviction of students of College of Agriculture from their hostels and suspension of students leaders.

Remove pay anomalies, say PWD
workersSonepat, April 20The Haryana Government PWD Mechanical Workers Union, affiliated to the Sarv Karamchari Sangh Haryana yesterday urged the state government to take immediate and effective steps for the removal of anomalies in the pay-scales of the employees and ensure
the payment of allowances and other funds to the employees before handing over the drinking water supply and sewerage to the civic bodies in the state.

Introduce crop insurance:
BJPChandigarh, April 20The Haryana BJP yesterday urged the state government to introduce the crop insurance policy of the Central Government at the earliest. Even though the Centre had introduced the system of crop insurance last year, Haryana was yet to cover the farmers of the state under it, a press statement issued by Mr Manohar
Lal, organising secretary of the Haryana unit of the
BJP, said here.

Memorial to freedom fighter
soughtSonepat, April 20Mr Sanghpriya Gautam, MP and vice-president of the BJP, yesterday urged the state government to build a memorial in memory of Pt Ram Dhan Sharma, a veteran freedom fighter and a true Gandhian in the city.

Girl shot by boyfriend at tourist resortFaridabad, April 20Shefali (20), of Pandav Nagar in Delhi, who had come for picnic at Surajkund here yesterday was shot dead allegedly by the youth, with whom she had come. The suspect escaped after committing the crime.

“Popularise lok adalats’ concept”Chandigarh, April 20The annual meeting of the Haryana State Legal Service Authority was held today at Haryana Nivas. Mr Justice
V. K. Bali, Executive Chairman of the authority presided over it.

Pre-Harappan site excavated at KunalKurukshetra, April 20For the first time in the country, a rich cultural heritage site has been excavated in Kunal region of the state, which matched the excavations of Baluchistan in its valleys of
Kuli, Nandar and Mehargarh, the curator of the local Shri Krishna Museum, Mr Rajesh Purohit has said.

Case politically motivated: MLAAmbala, April 20Faridabad MLA Chander Bhatia today termed the case against him and a few others as politically motivated and said he would fight the case. A press note issued by Mr Bhatia said he would appear before the Special Magistrate for CBI cases on May 1.

Rohtak, April 20
The former Chief Minister and HVP Chief, Mr Bansi Lal, has dissociated himself from the Devi Lal Memorial Committee and said there was no need for such a committee.

Mr Bansi Lal said he had regards for Devi Lal and was aggrieved at his demise. “No doubt Devi Lal was a freedom fighter and remained a fighter throughout his life,” he said and advised the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to refrain from taking political mileage from the death of such a leader for petty interests.

Refuting the claims that Devi Lal had played a big role in getting him inducted into the Rajya Sabha. Mr Bansi Lal said the late Mr Darbara Singh, then PCC chief, was the one who got the ticket for him for the Rajya Sabha.

The late Gulzari Lal Nanda, Mr
L. N. Mishra and Pt Bhagwat Dayal Sharma were responsible for making him Chief Minister of Haryana, Mr Bansi Lal said. He said he would remain grateful to them
throughout his life.

Mr Bansi Lal said when he became Chief Minister for the first time in 1968, neither Mr Devi Lal nor any member of his family or relative was MLA in Haryana. “Rather, it was I who appointed Mr Devi Lal as Chairman of the Haryana Khadi Board on his request in 1969,” he said.

Mr Bansi Lal strongly pleaded for the bifurcation of Uttar Pradesh, which has become unmanageable and demanded creation of a separate state of western UP. The farmers of that area have contributed a lot in the agriculture sector.

Moreover, this western Uttar Pradesh was the birthplace of the former Prime Minister and veteran kisan leader Charan Singh who had struggled for the uplift of farmers, backward classes and economically weaker sections of society, he said. These sections of society were proud of Charan Singh for his honesty and dedication.

Mr Bansi Lal urged the Centre to give Bharat Ratna to Charan Singh and raise a national memorial at Delhi in recognition of the services of the late Prime Minister and veteran kisanleader.

Mr Bansi Lal criticised the functioning of the Chautala government and said it had failed on all fronts. There was big scarcity of power, drinking and irrigation water throughout the state. Farmers were not getting due price for their produce and traders had been burdened with heavy taxes, he alleged.

He said prior to the Vidhan Sabha elections Mr Chautala had promised free water and power, withdrawl of taxes to the tune of Rs 1500 crore which were allegedly imposed by the Bansi Lal government and employment to 70,000 youth against posts left vacant by the previous government. The Chief Minister, he alleged, had forgotten all these promises. On the contrary he had imposed heavy taxes, raised the power and water tariff and terminated the services of a large number of employees.

The former Chief Minister expressed concern over the rising corruption among politicians and bureaucrats and increasing criminal tendency among the youth. He emphasised the need for taking strong measures to eliminate corruption and criminal tendency among the youth by providing them
opportunities so that they may engage themselves in constructive work.

Mr Bansi Lal suspected the role of certain agencies behind the Tehelka exposure. The judicial inquiry should probe every aspect of this exposure and the forces behind it.

He described Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee as most incompetent Prime Minister. He did not deserve to occupy this post but unfortunately Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi was his best supporter as there was no other replacement. Had the Congress chosen another person as leader, this government would have fallen, he said.

New Delhi, April 20
The Union Urban Development Ministry would provide adequate financial assistance to the Haryana government for the speedy development of infrastructure required for industrial development in the state falling under the National Capital Region (NCR).

A decision to this effect was taken by the Union Urban Development Minister Mr Jagmohan in a meeting with the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash
Chautala, here today. He appreciated the infrastructure developed by the state government in the Industrial Model Township,
Manesar, in Gurgaon district. He said with the speedy development of the industries in the NCR, the state will generate big employment opportunities for the
youth.

Mr Om Prakash Chautala said the state government was providing every possible assistance to the industries being shifted from Delhi in the wake of the Supreme Court orders and 4,400 industries have already been allotted plots in various industrial estates in
Gurgaon, Manesar, Bawal, Faridabad, Kundli and Bahadurgarh to facilitate the Delhi
entrepreneurs.

Mr Chautala also discussed the matter of improving the connectivity of
Gurgaon, Faridabad and Sonepat to Delhi in the National Capital Region keeping in view the increasing traffic congestion. The Union Urban Development Minister assured Mr Chautala that the issue would be examined and appropriate action would be taken accordingly.

According to an official spokesman, Mr Jagmohan also gave his consent to the proposal of the Haryana Government for converting the New Delhi residence of late former Deputy Prime Minister, Chaudhary Devi Lal into a memorial.

Chandigarh, April 20
The Haryana Small Savings Department would mobilise Rs 1222 crore by way of small savings in 2001-2002, 10 per cent more than the target of the previous year.

Stating this here yesterday Haryana Finance Minister, Prof Sampat Singh, announced that the department had launched a new Haryana Small Savings Prizes Schemes 2001-2002, (part I and II). The part-I of this scheme would be for investments made between April 1 and September 30, 2001, and the second part of the scheme would be for investments made from October 1, 2001 to March 31, 2002.

He added the scheme aimed at mobilising higher savings from women investors who would be given a free prize-winning lucky coupon on an investment of Rs 3000 and a free lucky coupon on an investment of Rs 5000 in case of male investors.

He said that the scheme had been made more attractive for the agents working under different small savings schemes, for whom the number of prizes had been increased. As against nine prizes for the agents at the state level under the scheme for the previous year, the number of prizes had now been increased to 180. He said that the agents with outstanding performance under each of the schemes, namely
SAS, PPF and MYKPY, would be awarded prizes for standing first, second and third in each of the districts as well.

He said that the total number of prizes for each scheme were 8778, which would be worth Rs 1.05
crore.

Yamunanagar, April 20
A five-member committee of the Congress has been constituted to inquire indiscipline at the Bhiwani Congress rally. This was disclosed by Mr Birender Singh, former Haryana Pradesh Congress President, while talking to newspersons here yesterday while condemning the misbehaviour of Congressmen with the Pradesh Congress Chief, Mr Bhupinder Singh
Hooda.

He said the proposed Panipat rally on May 21 would be organised under the banner of the Congress and not of any individual. He said indiscipline would not be tolerated in the rally at any cost and anybody trying to create problems in the rally would be dealt with stern action.

Rohtak, April 20
Examinees of Shastri (part-I) examination being conducted by Maharshi Dayanand University were shocked yesterday when they found that the questions in the fifth paper of English were not as specified in the syllabus.

Mr Mahipal Shastri, President, Haryana Sanskrit Adhyapak Sangh, alleged that the examinees could not perform well due to the lapse.

He demanded adequate grace marks to compensate the loss suffered by the students.

The complainant said the questions carrying 65 marks related to the prescribed novel ‘Godan’ were asked in the paper as against the 50 marks specified in the syllabus.

Similarly, 50 marks were given to the first question appeared in question answer form as against 15 marks specified in the syllabus.

Besides, paragraph writing, translation from Hindi to English and fill in the blanks with correct form of verbs carrying 30 marks in total were completely ignored in the question paper.

When contacted, Dr
K. C. Bharadwaj, Controller of Examinations of the university, said the complaint would be handed over to a committee which would decide the issue.

He said if the complaint was found to be genuine it would be compensated accordingly.

Faridabad, April 20
The demolition drive here has come under attack. A controversy has arisen in some cases over the ownership of land and the authority to demolish the structures in view of “lack of coordination” between HUDA and the municipal corporation (MC).

The demolition of some kiosks and booths set up with the permission of the MC by HUDA officials yesterday, has led to resentment among shopkeepers.

Though they had been paying rent to the MC, HUDA demolished them without any notice.

Harjit Singh Sikka and Sanjiv Kumar, who owned a catering van and an STD-PCO booth, the action of HUDA to pull down their booths, was illegal and unwarranted.

They claimed that the booths were set up with the prior permission of the MC and that they had deposited a security of Rs 9,000 and Rs 6,000 respectively, besides paying the monthly rent of Rs 3,000 and Rs 1,575.

They alleged they had snowed the relevant documents to the authorities concerned, but said they refused to listen to them.

The complainants have decided to bring this to the notice of the Chief Minister and the Governor, besides writing to the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Alleging discrimination, they said only some of the booths were pulled down. Several other booths, were not touched by officials.

The HUDA authorities said the green belt in the urban sectors belonged to HUDA and this was done as part of an anti-encroachment drive. The SDM, Mr Jitender Dahiya, said all booths and kiosks located in the green belt would be removed.

He said the decision of the MC to allot such booths and to charge rent was illegal as no permission had been taken from HUDA.

He said a letter had been written to the MC in this regard about a month ago but received no reply.

Chandigarh, April 20
The Haryana Government has revived the Improvement Trusts of Bhiwani, Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Hansi and Dabwali. Stating this, an official spokesman said the Chairman of the Improvement Trust, Bhiwani, would be Mr Varinder Bharuka and the members would include Mr Ramesh Narula, Mr Ved Parkash Balmiki and Mr Bharpur Singh. Ms Manju Rani and Mr Gobind Ram would be the municipality members of the trust.

The Chairman of the Improvement Trust, Sirsa, would be Mr Lila Krishan Mehta and the members would include Mr Sant Lal, Mr Ajit Sain and Mr Som Nath Sharma. Mr Sunil Saini and Mr Rajinder Kumar would be the municipality members.

The Improvement Trust, Fatehabad, had been reconstituted under the chairmanship of Mr Atam Parkash Batra. Its members would include Mr Vijay Chaudhary, Mr Pardeep Mehta and Mr Shyam Lal Rathi. Ms Sheela Goswami and Mr Vijay Kirar would be the municipality members.

The Chairman of the Improvement Trust, Hisar, would be Mr Mukesh Sethi and the members would include Mr Ved Parkash, Mr Shankar Saini and Mr Mahabir Singh. The municipality members would be Mr Sudershan and Ms Lakhpati Devi.

He said the Improvement Trust, Hansi, would have Mr Vijay Jain as its Chairman and its members would include Mr Udey Shankar Sharma, Mr Rajesh Balmiki and Mr Narender Garg. The municipality members would be Ms Usha Thati and Mr
O. P. Mehta.

The Improvement Trust, Dabwali, would have Mr Ranbir Singh Rana and its Chairman and its members would include Ch Balwant Singh, Mr Gopal Singh and Mr Raj Kumar Sachdeva. Mr Tek Chand Chhabra and Ms Asha Kumari would be the municipality members.

Kurukshetra, April 20
Kurukshetra University will convert Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar Studies Centre into a nodal agency for coordinating research on Dr Ambedkar’s philosophy. This was stated by the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Mr R.S. Chaudhry, here on Wednesday.

He was presiding over a function in connection with the birth anniversary of Dr Ambedkar which was organised at the Senate Hall here.

He said a double-storeyed building would be constructed to house the centre. It would have a library equipped with works on Baba Saheb, computer facilities, multi-purpose centre for indepth studies and a seminar room. It would also be provided with a research room for visiting faculty and staff, a meditation-cum-prayer hall and a memorial hall.

Mr Satbir Singh Kadian, Speaker, Haryana Vidhan Sabha, paying tributes to Dr Ambedkar maintained that the Constitution framed by him had stood the test of time.

Dr Hawa Singh, Registrar, of the university, said Dr Ambedkar had raised his voice to bridge the gap between the upper and the lower castes.

Nuh (Gurgaon), April 20
The decision of the Mewat Development Agency (MDA) to set up a residential institute for girls here has enthused the people residing in Gurgaon and Faridabad districts.

The proposed institute, to be set up by the MDA and to be managed by the Delhi Public School Society (DPSS), which also manages three Government Model Schools in Mewat, is to have residential facilitites for 200 girls. Incidentally, it will be the first institute of its kind for the girls in Mewat, considered to be one of the most backward areas of Haryana. The institute is expected to be ready in a couple of months.

The Chairman of the MDA, Mr
S. A. Khan, said the institute would cater to the needs of JBT trainees, plus two students and students of vocational courses run in the area. The institute to be set up on an area of about five acres on the premises of the DPS managed model school here, would be set up by the MDA out of its own funds. However, the authorities are in touch with well-known NGOs like Maulana Azad Foundation to extend financial assistance for the project.

The Director of the DPSS-managed Mewat Model Schools, Ms Rosetta Williams Ananad, said the institute would go a long way in instilling confidence among the girls and their parents to send them for further studies and trainings for jobs. Churning out 300 amalgamated students each year from Mewat would have cascading effect in terms of propelling more academic culture in to Mewat, she added.

The reason for general gung-ho attitude in Mewat relating to the project is not far to seek. Over all education and status of females here, having five of its blocks in Gurgaon and one in Faridabad district, have the most dismal social indicators. The female education in this conservative society is pathetic at the primary and middle school-level due to alarming rate of drop out cases. The little, that trickle for plus two studies are deterred on account of lack of infrastructure. The mullahs and religious fanatics, who have vested interest in keeping the catchment areas of their influence, backward and illiterate especially the female sections, are also major corrosive influence on those who would like to be in tune with the contemporary society. The iota of the female section who dare to defy the local societal norms to venture into professional courses are eventually inhibited as there is not any facility for staying away from their homes.

There is a JBT training centre in Ferozepur Namak in Mewat. A number of females who opt for it quit the course as they find it very taxing to cope with the male crowd (often unrestrained in making remarks) in the private carriers. Many say that there have been examples in the past that the females who tried to brave these odds, were stigmatised, even before their training period was over. Paradoxically, there have also been cases where the girls who tried to carry on with their higher studies and training in institutes, far away from home, were dubbed with pejorative epithets by the local populace. This landed their parents in serious problems as they had difficulty in arranging suitable marriages for them.

According to Miss Williams, the residential facilities will have an overall package. It includes making arrangements for vehicles to bring the residents of the proposed institute to and fro from their respective training centres and schools. Incidentally, the DPSS has also set up an institute for food training and processing for 30 women in Nuh. There is a proposal to start health care and beautician course and cognate courses exclusively for women with the overall objective to uplift the economic standard of the females and their eventual empowerment.

Hisar, April 20
Students of all constituent colleges of Haryana Agricultural University today went on strike in protest against the eviction of students of College of Agriculture from their hostels and suspension of students leaders.

The students of College of Agriculture have been agitating for the introduction of agriculture as a subject at school level for the past many days. The university authorities yesterday evicted them from their hostels and suspended Rajender Sharma and Bijender Sharma, both former presidents of the HAU students’ union, for disturbing classes in the university.

After boycotting their classes, the students gathered in front of Administrative Block and held a protest march inside the campus. Girl students also participated in it. They raised slogans against the state government as well as the university authorities.

The student leaders alleged the Vice-Chancellor, Mr Vinay Kumar, was pressurising them to end their agitation. They also criticised the state government for not implementing the recommendations of the high powered committee on education, which had supported demands. They demanded all evicted students be allowed to return to their hostels. They also demanded revocation of suspension orders of the leaders immediately.

Sonepat, April 20
The Haryana Government PWD Mechanical Workers Union, affiliated to the Sarv Karamchari Sangh Haryana yesterday urged the state government to take immediate and effective steps for the removal of anomalies in the pay-scales of the employees and ensure
the payment of allowances and other funds to the employees before handing over the drinking water supply and sewerage to the civic bodies in the state.

In a press release, it also demanded immediate ban on retrenchments to employees and regularisation of the services of all daily wage earners and ad hoc employees. It opposed the move of the govenrment to privatise the Public Health Department and the Irrigation Department, and demanded the grant of the pay scale of Rs 1200-2040 to the employees working on the technical posts.

The union also urged the state government to promote all matriculate Class IV employees as clerks. It demanded that the state government should fill the vacant posts without delay.

Mr Jai Bhagwan Dahiya, president of the district unit of the union expressed concern over rampant corruption in the Public Health Department, the PWD (B&R), Irrigation and Health Departments and charged the officials with adopting delaying tactics in releasing the amount of the provident fund etc.

He demanded that all Superintending Engineers of these departments should be empowered to release atleast 50 per cent of the PF money to end harassment of the employees.

Mr Dahiya accused the state government with the non-implementation of the orders of the Supreme Court and trying to challenge the court’s orders by filing the petition against the order. He also urged the government to provide all facilities to the work-charged employees and link their service with the original service.

He disclosed that the union was holding its sixth annual convention on April 21 and 22 in the city to plan out the future course of action for launching a struggle against the government for its failure to accept the just and genuine demands of the employees.

Chandigarh, April 20
The Haryana BJP yesterday urged the state government to introduce the crop insurance policy of the Central Government at the earliest. Even though the Centre had introduced the system of crop insurance last year, Haryana was yet to cover the farmers of the state under it, a press statement issued by Mr Manohar
Lal, organising secretary of the Haryana unit of the
BJP, said here.

The press statement added that all five BJP Lok Sabha members from Haryana met Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee at Parliament House today and apprised him of the damage caused to crops in the state due to the recent rain.

The BJP delegation, led by Mr Rattan Lal
Kataria, state party president, included the Union Minister of State for Home, Mr
I. D. Swamy, Mr Krishan Singh Sangwan, Mr Ram Chander Bainda and Dr Sudha
Yadav. They spent about 20 minutes with the Prime Minister and urged him to give adequate compensation to the affected farmers. Mr Vajpayee assured the MPs on extending full cooperation to the state government so that the suffering of the farmers could be reduced.

The BJP press statement also asked the state government to make an assessment of the damage caused by the rain to harvested crops in various areas. The government should assess the extent of damage through a special girdawari and then intimate the Centre so that the affected farmers could be given relief.

The Haryana BJP had earlier drawn the attention of the authorities regarding the selling of mustard by farmers at prices below the minimum support price. Following the concern expressed by the party, mustard farmers were now being given the right price for their produce, the statement claimed.

Sonepat, April 20
Mr Sanghpriya Gautam, MP and vice-president of the BJP, yesterday urged the state government to build a memorial in memory of Pt Ram Dhan Sharma, a veteran freedom fighter and a true Gandhian in the city.

In a statement issued to the press here, he also demanded renaming of the Government Senior Secondary School, Model Town, here, popularly known as the Haryana High School which was handed over to the government by him. He also said that the road leading to the mini-secretariat from Malviya Shikhsha Sadan should also be named after him as a mark of respect to the departed leader.

Paying rich tributes to Mr Sharma, the BJP leader described him as a veteran freedom fighter and champion of the downtrodden and said he fought relentlessly against the British regime during the freedom struggle. He was imprisoned several times and kept in Multan jail now in Pakistan where he lost his one kidney. Mr Sharma, he said responded to the call of Mahatma Gandhi and actively participated in the Civil Disobedience and Quit India Movement.

A former Union Minister and a ‘masiah’ of the Dalits, Mr Chand Ram also endorsed the demand of the BJP leader and hoped that the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, would meet the demand for erection of a memorial and renaming the school after his name.

He said Mr Sharma was a member of the Punjab Legislative Council in the United Punjab.

Faridabad, April 20
Shefali (20), of Pandav Nagar in Delhi, who had come for picnic at Surajkund here yesterday was shot dead allegedly by the youth, with whom she had come. The suspect escaped after committing the crime.

The victim and her boyfriend, who could not be identified had reported at Hermitage Hut Complex at about 3 p.m. last evening.

The girl was found lying in a pool of blood at about 6.45 p.m. when employees rushed to the room after hearing a gunshot. She was declared brought dead in the hospital.

It is learnt that the two had registered themselves as Dharamvir of Kalkaji (Delhi) and Shefali of Pandav Nagar at the time of booking a room (hut). The girl was shot in the head. She had been working in a scooter showroom in Delhi. A case of murder had been registered.

Hisar, April 20
The number of murdered persons among those whose bodies were found in various canals here has gone up to six.

The post-mortem reports of two of the 11 bodies recovered were received today. In one case, the death was found to have been caused by a head injury. The cause of death of the other person could not be determined.

It may be recalled five of the remaining nine whose bodies were found last week had also been murdered. The police has registered a case in the connection.

Chandigarh, April 20
The annual meeting of the Haryana State Legal Service Authority was held today at Haryana Nivas. Mr Justice
V. K. Bali, Executive Chairman of the authority presided over it.

Highlighting the achievements of the authority, Mr Justice Bali pointed out that the concept of compromise at the pre-litigation stage has been a success in 1328 cases of banks involving recovery cases of Rs 10.76 crore were settled in four sittings in one month in various districts of Haryana.

He disclosed that to settle petty cases in Haryana, a special Lok Adalat would be held on May 5 at the district-level and sub-divisional headquarters for the settlement of “compoundable” criminal cases.

Mr Justice Bali exhorted senior government functionaries at the meeting to impress upon departments to set up Lok Adalats for settlement disputes at the pre-litigation level and contribute to check alarming increase of avoidable litigation.

Kurukshetra, April 20
For the first time in the country, a rich cultural heritage site has been excavated in Kunal region of the state, which matched the excavations of Baluchistan in its valleys of
Kuli, Nandar and Mehargarh, the curator of the local Shri Krishna Museum, Mr Rajesh Purohit has said.

He said the Kunal region in Fatehabad district had more than 100 such sites which needs to be excavated further by the Archaeological Survey of India
(ASI), besides being a rarest site in the country today having “pit-dwellings” as found in
Srinagar. UNI

Ambala, April 20
Faridabad MLA Chander Bhatia today termed the case against him and a few others as politically motivated and said he would fight the case. A press note issued by Mr Bhatia said he would appear before the Special Magistrate for CBI cases on May 1.

Mr Bhatia alleged the case was registered against them at the behest of a former Chief Minister since they had opposed him.

He expressed gratitude towards people of the area for “supporting him in this hour of crisis”. Mr Bhatia would soon convene a meeting of different organisations and people at his residence where the future course of action would be decided, the press note added.

Ambala, April 20
Three persons were killed and eight persons injured in three different accidents.

An accident took place on the GT road when a truck hit a Tata-407 truck late last
night. The driver of the Tata-407 was killed. The truck was coming from Chandigarh and the Tata-407 was headed towards Himachal
Pradesh. Two others were injured in the accident. In the second accident, an unidentified man was killed on the GT road near Mohra late last night. The third accident took place on the Shahzadpur road this afternoon. A truck carrying bricks collided head on with another truck. A labourer was killed and six others sustained injuries.

Chandigarh, April 20
The Haryana Government has earmarked more than Rs 21 crore in the current financial year to develop and promote the Indian system of medicine and homoeopathy.

While stating this here yesterday, Mr M. L. Ranga, Health Minister, said an amount of Rs 18 crore was spent during 1999-2000 and Rs 19 crore was spent during 2000-2001 on the implementation of various schemes and promotion of the Indian system of medicine and homoeopathy.

Chandigarh, April 20
The Haryana State Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank has donated Rs 21 lakh to the Haryana Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to help the victims rendered homeless by the quake in Gujarat.